The Great Southern Trendkill (album)
The Great Southern Trendkill is the eighth studio album by Pantera. It was released on May 7th, 1996 through East West Records. It reached #4 on the Billboard Top 200 chart. Due to tension within the band, Phil Anselmo recorded the vocals alone at Trent Reznor's Nothing Studios in New Orleans; Dimebag Darrell, Rex Brown, and Vinnie Paul recorded the music at Chasin Jason Studios in Dallas, Texas. Background The Great Southern Trendkill features some of the fastest tempos and most down-tuned guitars that the band ever recorded. It also has a more experimental nature to its songs, such as the acoustic guitar and keyboard-laden "Suicide Note Pt. I". Unlike Pantera's first three major label albums, the vocals are often double tracked and layered to create a more "demonic" effect. An example of this can be heard in the chorus of "13 Steps to Nowhere", when Phil Anselmo's singing voice is backed up by high pitched screaming, done by Seth Putnam of Anal Cunt infamy. The lyrics tackle topics such as Anselmo's hate for the media ("War Nerve"), suicide ("Suicide Note Pt. I"), drug abuse ("10's", "Living Through Me (Hell's Wrath)") and the end of the world ("Floods"), and Anselmo's view on trends ("The Great Southern Trendkill", "Sandblasted Skin"). "Floods", the album's longest song, contains a guitar solo considered by many to be Dimebag Darrell's finest. Guitar World magazine voted it as the 15th greatest guitar solo of all-time, Dimebag's highest ranking of three solos to make the list (the other two being his solos from "Cemetery Gates", ranked 35th, and "Walk", ranked 57th). The song "10's" is featured in the Funimation dub of the Dragon Ball Z movie Broly: The Legendary Super Saiyan, as Broly's theme. Reception * Melody Maker (5/25/96, p.49) - "It makes my brain hurt, my eyes water and my genitalia retract like a startled turtle. I cannot think of higher recommendation, considering the kind of album it is. If it made me feel all warm and gooey or tearful and lovelorn, then it would be a pitiful failure by its own lights." * Spin (7/96, p.96) - "...mature speedmetal and perfect summer fun: twisted power ballads, rap-style toasting, almost radio-worthy melodies, plus all the right jackhammer drum jolts, wrestler bellows, and guitar lurch..." Tracklisting # "The Great Southern Trendkill" # "War Nerve" # "Drag the Waters" # "10's" # "13 Steps to Nowhere" # "Suicide Note, Pt. 1" #"Suicide Note, Pt. 2" #"Living Through Me (Hell's Wrath)" #"Floods" #"The Underground in America" #"(Reprise) Sandblasted Skin" Credits * Phil Anselmo – lead vocals * Dimebag Darrell – guitar, backing vocals * Rex Brown – bass, backing vocals * Vinnie Paul Abbott – drums Additional Credits * Produced, Engineered, and Mixed by Terry Date and Vinnie Paul * Seth Putnam of Anal Cunt - Additional vocals on "The Great Southern Trendkill" "War Nerve", "13 Steps to Nowhere" , and "Suicide Note Pt II". * Big Ross - Keyboards on "Suicide Note Pt I" and "Living Through Me". Charting positions Album Trivia *Often seen as Pantera's "overlooked" album due to the popularity of rising new metal genres of the mid to late 1990's. Category:Discography Category:Studio Albums Category:The Great Southern Trendkill